The court system of Niue is a three-tiered judicial system established by the Niue Constitution Act in the island nation of

Niue Niue is a self-governing island country in free association with New Zealand. It is situated in the South Pacific Ocean and is part of Polynesia, and predominantly inhabited by Polynesians. One of the world's largest coral islands, Niue is c ...

. It consists of the High Court, which has

original jurisdiction In common law legal systems, original jurisdiction of a court is the power to hear a case for the first time, as opposed to appellate jurisdiction, when a higher court has the power to review a lower court's decision. India In India, the S ...

to hear all

criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

, civil and

land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of Earth not submerged by the ocean or another body of water. It makes up 29.2% of Earth's surface and includes all continents and islands. Earth's land sur ...

matters, the Court of Appeal, which has

appellate In law, an appeal is the process in which Legal case, cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of cla ...

civil and criminal jurisdiction, and the Privy Council in England. Justices interpret the law subject to the Constitution of Niue, and if they determine a law violates the Constitution then the Constitution takes precedence. A system of

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

is used in the court system, and the Doctrine of

Precedent Precedent is a judicial decision that serves as an authority for courts when deciding subsequent identical or similar cases. Fundamental to common law legal systems, precedent operates under the principle of ''stare decisis'' ("to stand by thin ...

ensures that lower courts follow the precedent of upper courts. The civil and criminal courts operate under an adversarial legal system, while the land courts operate under an inquisitive legal system.

High Court

The High Court of Niue has

in criminal, civil, and land matters. The court is divided into three divisions; criminal division, civil division, and land division. Furthermore, it has three types of officials; Judges, Commissioners, and Justices of the Peace. The main difference between the three is

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...

. One other notable difference is the ability to become Chief Justice, which is only a judge's power, and that judges have rehearing powers. The current Chief Justice is Craig Coxhead. The Chief Justice is chosen by the

Governor-General of New Zealand The governor-general of New Zealand () is the representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 other Commonwealth realms and lives in the United Kingdom, he, on the Advice ...

on advice from the cabinet of Niue. , the judges are Judge Wilson Isaac, Chief Justice Coxhead and Judge Sarah Reeves. The Civil and Criminal Commissioners are Mr. Desmond Hipa, Mrs. Sifaole Ioane and Mrs. Taumalua Jackson. The Land Commissioners are Mrs. Rheumatic Alapaki, Mrs. Maihetoe Hekau, Mr. Robin Hekau, Mr. Hale Ikitule, Mrs. Leliviika Liumaihetau and Mr. Saukia Tukuitonga. The Justices of the Peace are Ms. Paese McMoore and Mrs. Francis Lui-Valiana. Two Justices of the Peace must be present to exercise the same functions as one Commissioner. All three can not stay on past 68 years of age. Jurisdiction based on each specific case is outlined in the extensive table below. The following jurists have served as chief justice:

Criminal Court

In criminal trials, the idea of innocent until proven guilty applies, and the burden of proof is on the prosecution. In 2014, 109 criminal cases were filed and the average duration of a case was 54 days.
Niuecourtproceed

Criminal proceedings

As the diagram on the right shows, there is a complex set of procedures in the

criminal court system.

Criminal jurisdiction and sentencing

Transport jurisdiction

These tables describe traffic jurisdiction under the ''Niue Transport Act 1965'' and its amendments. ''The shaded parts refer to a problem created by amendments to the Transport Act.''

Civil Court and Jurisdiction

One commissioner or 2 Justices of the Peace have the jurisdiction to hear a

civil action A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. T ...

for which the recovery of

debt Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money Loan, borrowed or otherwise withheld from another party, the creditor. Debt may be owed by a sovereign state or country, local government, company, or an individual. Co ...

damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognized at ...

does not exceed NZ $1500. However, in practice, judges are the ones that generally hear civil cases. In 2013–14, 22 civil cases were filed and the average duration of a case was 52 days. Niue-Land-court-structure

Land Court and Jurisdiction

Commissioners and Judges have jurisdiction in the Land Court. In 2013, 260 cases were filed, 150 were resolved, and the average duration of a case was 72 days. On the right is a diagram of the structure and proceedings of a case in the Land Court.

Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal is an

appellate court An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appel ...

that may hear appeals based on the High Court granting leave for cases of extraordinary importance, if the High Court certifies it relates to the interpretation of the constitution, or when the Court of Appeal grants special leave to appeal. In

jurisdiction, a person convicted of a

criminal offence In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

may appeal if they are sentenced to

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

, imprisonment for life, or to a fine or imprisonment that is not fixed by law. The Court of Appeal meets approximately every three years. Very few cases are appealed to the Court of Appeal, often less than 3 a year, and of those on average a very small amount are overturned.

The Sovereign in Council

The Sovereign in Council is officially the highest court in Niue. It is the

King of the United Kingdom The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with their powers Constitutional monarchy, regula ...

, acting by and with the advice of the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 August ...

. Appeals may be made by the aggrieved party from the Court of Appeal, and it is up to His Majesty's discretion whether to accept the case. This function is in reality one of the

, which is the highest court in the Niue court system. The Judicial Committee has not yet heard a case from Niue, although they have heard many cases from the nearby

Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...

References

{{Niue topics Politics of Niue Judiciaries by country